[the truth]

'Assault on societies'

Not everyone is enamoured by the potential agreement, with concerns the deal will drive down wages, weaken environmental protection and labour rights, and put the demands of big business before those of citizens.

John Hilary, executive director of campaign group War on Want, says: "TTIP is correctly understood not as a negotiation between two competing trading partners, but as an assault on European and US societies by transnational corporations seeking to remove regulatory barriers to their activities on both sides of the Atlantic."


Protests against TTIP in GermanyImage copyright Getty Images
Image caption
There is opposition to TTIP across Europe

Much of the opposition to TTIP in the UK and other EU countries including Germany, is focused on its provisions for "investor-state dispute settlement".

This procedure would allow companies to sue foreign governments over claims of unfair treatment and to be entitled to compensation.

Critics say the measures undermine the power of national governments to act in the interests of their citizens.

For example, they warn that tobacco giants could use the procedure to challenge restrictive regulations, citing a case in Australia, where Philip Morris Asia used a 1993 trade agreement with Hong Kong as the basis for a legal move to stop a change to packaging.

Poorer standards

In the UK, attention has focused on the potential impact on the NHS, with critics saying TTIP would allow private firms running NHS services to sue the government if it chose to return the services to the public sector.

Opponents have called for the NHS to be exempted from TTIP, arguing that other sectors have already secured exemptions, such as the French film industry.


NHS logoImage copyright Getty Images
Image caption
There are TTIP concerns around the NHS

The UK government says the details of how the dispute settlement would work are still under negotiation and claims there is no threat to the NHS.

Critics also worry about the impact on food standards, arguing that the EU has much stricter regulations on GM crops, pesticide use and food additives than the US.

They say the TTIP deal could open the EU market to cheaper products with poorer standards. They also warn that food giants could use investor-state dispute settlements to bully governments into dropping legislation to improve food standards.

Week of talks

Irrespective of how the UK population decides to vote on 23 June regarding EU membership, the TTIP ship sails on.

The next round of talks, the 13th, is due to open on Monday in New York and run until Friday.